Despite two big 70.3 wins, Lionel Sanders is “still afraid to go to the Ironman”

It’s been a whirlwind year for Lionel Sanders, who proved that he was returning to top form with a big win at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in April. Shortly after that, though, Sanders announced that he’d broken a few ribs, and would be out of commission for a month.

After huge Oceanside win, Lionel Sanders now out for four to six weeks

After a month away from the water and limited bike and run training, Sanders returned to racing last weekend, and delivered an emphatic win at one of his favourite races, Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant. After the race we learned that Sanders hadn’t come into the race with the confidence he displayed out on the race course.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge to get here for sure,” Sanders said after the race. “I was a little worried. I came here because I’m still a little worried because I can still feel it so I had to kind of get out (and do a race) before I go to the Ironman. I wanted to get out and just put it to the test … I can’t feel it right now,  so that’s good. But yeah, I took the time that I needed to because I was like if I screw this up, the season’s over. If I reinjure it and because I am pushing the limits now, like I’m not in the greatest form for an Ironman. You know, like after taking that much time basically off. So this is as good as it could go for me.”

The shortened swim no-doubt helped Sanders in the race, but despite that he was pleasantly surprised with his performance in the first leg of the race.

“I’ve done the best I could to be honest with you,” he said. “It probably works to my advantage because I probably muscled the water too much anyway, so now I’m sort of relaxing a bit better, so it might be blessing in disguise long term.”

Sanders will race at Ironman Lake Placid in July as he looks to compete at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, but also look to contend for the Ironman Pro Series. His five best results will count towards his points total for that series.

Despite his impressive showing at his first two races of 2024, though, he knows that the full distance offers a new challenge. Sanders hasn’t competed in a full-distance race since his 34th-place finish at the Ironman World Championship in Kona in 2022.

“I’m so worried about it (competing in an Ironman),” he said. “My last one, I literally was coming down into the energy lab and I told Talbot (Cox, his friend and videographer), ‘soak it in, it’s the last time you’ll ever see me here.'” 

“Because they (Ironman races) just scar you,” Sanders continued. “If you don’t get it right, I mean. If you do it wrong, or if you leave your race in practice, they scar you. So my big thing now is I’m just trying to not leave my races in practice. And, from here on out, I’m going to do five races. I’m doing 5 races tops and I’m not doing any races in practice.”

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Despite the trepidation, Sanders remains confident that the full-distance is potentially his best distance.

“I’m still afraid to go to the Ironman,” Sanders continued. “I have a healthy respect for the Ironman distance, but I’m also excited to see what I can do there. I think I’ve got a good team around me. I think we’re doing good work and I … I’m confident that with time I can be one of the best at the Ironman distance I think it suits mme better than 70.3, and I just have to prove that to everyone and myself.